namco

Namco is known for a lot of properties, but many of them have ties back to the 80s and a time period when graphics were measured by the number of colors displayed on-screen at once. Tekken is an edgier, younger franchise in its early 20s that you'd think the company would be proud of. But with the release of Galaga: Tekken Edition, Namco has brought three Tekken-related titles into the Play Store, and none of them actually let you beat people up.

We don't have Tekken. We don't have Street Fighter. We don't have DOA. But Namco just gave fighter fans one hell of a reason to celebrate: the original SoulCalibur is now available on Android. The Dreamcast port of this arcade fighter favorite has long been considered one of the gems of the genre, and you can play it on your phone right now. It's a pricey $6.67 and compatible with Gingerbread and up.

The Tekken series is one of Namco's biggest properties, a beloved handful of games that helped pioneer the 3D one-on-one fighting genre. Tekken Arena is an embarrassing mobile cash-in, with no 3D element to speak of and barely any portion that could be called "fighting." It might just be the most absurd deviation from the central element of a gaming property that I've ever seen.

Namco-Bandai released Sky Gamblers: Rise Of Glory more than a year ago, and the WWI 3D air combat game was well-received. The sequel takes the setting to the near future with a mix of modern fighter jets and alien invaders. Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy is definitely one of the most graphically-intensive entries in the admittedly small niche, and the loose arcade style is well-suited to touch controls.

The game isn't quite as sci-fi as the trailer on the Play Store suggests: when Air Supremacy launched on iOS 18 months ago (sigh), its primary campaign had you facing off against conventional air and ground targets.

There are three parts to any good Pac-Man game: a maze, some ghosts, and a little yellow dude eating dots and going "wakka wakka." That's it. Despite this seemingly simple formula, Namco has tried to make Pac-Man a mascot for the ages a la Mario, putting him in everything from platformers to kart racers to freaking Tekken. The latest indignity is Pac-Man Dash, in which the little yellow guy jumps on the endless runner bandwagon.

Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got a hotly anticipated hardcore sci-fi spaceship simulator, an interesting take on the growing RPG-puzzle genre, a retro platform/puzzle game with a twist, and Namco's latest attempt at striking mobile gaming gold.

If you like corny puns and tower defense, NAMCO is ready to harvest your money and time with Corn Quest. This tower defense game puts you in charge of an army of vegetable minions. You're the kernel—get it? GET IT?!—and it's up to you to save your stalks from the evil aliens. You do this with guns. Because vegetables have guns.

Sometimes, classic games are just better. If you're tired of playing through endless variations of Temple Run and flinging animated birds across your smartphone display, then you'll no doubt be glad to hear that NAMCO has just released PAC-MAN + Tournaments on Android.

The app has been designed so that it remains very similar to the original arcade version of the game, and you'll be able to play PAC-MAN Classic to your heart's content with a virtual joystick at the bottom of the screen.

When it comes to iconic video game titles, there are few that meet that qualification like Galaga. The top-down alien shoot 'em up has been re-created time and time again, but now the original creator – Namco – has brought this classic title to Android.

As you might expect, it has been completely revamped for the mobile platform, but it still offers that same classic gameplay that made Galaga a hit back in the early '80s.